Bhiksu University External Degree Program Buddhist Literature First Year Students 2019

The Story of Angulimala

The Buddhist scriptures relate that one day, after his meal, the Buddha went out from the monastery where he was staying and walked towards a great forest. Seeing him going in that direction various people working in their fields called out to him to warn him that in that forest dwelt the dreaded Angulimala.

Little is known for certain about Angulimala but the usual account of his life has him the son of a well-to-do family and at one time a brilliant student at the University of Taxila, then the Oxbridge of India.

At Taxila, other students were jealous of him and succeeded in poisoning their teacher’s mind against him, with the result that the teacher asked of him what he must have believed would be an impossible honorarium, a thousand human right-hand little fingers. Unbelievably, instead of giving up and quietly going home without graduating, the young man set out to collect the fingers and pay the fee. Presumably, he quickly discovered that people were reluctant to willingly give up their little fingers and so he was forced to resort to violence and killing in order to obtain them.

Then he found he had nowhere to store these fingers. He tried hanging them on a tree but the birds stole them so his solution was to string them around his neck. For this gruesome and growing garland of bloody fingers he was nicknamed Angulimala which means ‘finger garland’ or ‘finger necklace’.

This was the man who, peering out from his lair, spotted the Buddha coming towards him and who that day had round his neck nine hundred and ninety-nine little fingers. This powerful and athletic serial killer, who had already successfully resisted several attempts to apprehend him, grabbed his weapons and dashed out to murder the Buddha and complete his score.

He expected to easily overtake him and quickly finish the job but then a very strange thing happened – even though the Buddha was only walking, serene and unhurried, Angulimala, despite his formidable strength and speed, found he couldn’t catch up with him. Eventually, exhausted, angry, frustrated and soaked with sweat, Angulimala screamed at the Buddha to stop.

Then the Buddha turned and with neither anger or fear, speaking quietly and directly, he told Angulimala that he, the Buddha, had already stopped. He had stopped killing and harming and now it was time for him, Angulimala, to do likewise. Angulimala was so struck by these words that there and then he stopped; he threw away his weapons and followed the Buddha back to the monastery where he became a monk.

Later, the King, ignorant of what had happened, came by leading his troops out to arrest Angulimala. Being a very pious monarch, he called to pay his respects to the Buddha and to inform him of what he was up to. The Buddha asked the King what his reaction would be were he to discover that amongst this assembly of monks sat Angulimala.

To the King it was utterly unbelievable that such a foul and evil person could now be a Buddhist monk and seated amongst such exalted company, but were it the case, he answered, he would certainly pay his respects and make offerings. Then the Buddha stretched forth his right hand and, pointing, announced that there sat Angulimala.

When he’d mastered his fear and recovered from the shock, the King, having paid his respects, said to the Buddha how incredible it was that, “What we have tried to do by force and with weapons you have done with neither force nor weapons!” In the course of time, after a period of some trial to himself, Angulimala did eventually succeed in purging his mind of all greed, hatred and delusion and realised for himself the Buddhist goal of Enlightenment.

The story of Angulimala teaches us that the possibility of Enlightenment may be awakened in the most extreme of circumstances, that people can and do change and that people are best influenced by persuasion and above all, example.

The Story of Poor Sopaka

There once was a boy by the name of Sopaka, born to a very poor family. When this boy was only seven his father died and his mother married another man who was very wicked and unkind. His new stepfather always beat and scolded small Sopaka who was very kind, innocent and good.

The stepfather thought, "This boy is a nuisance, a good-for-nothing, but I cannot do anything to him because his mother loves him so much. What shall I do about him?"

One evening he said, "Dear son, let us go for a walk."

The boy was surprised and thought, "My stepfather has never talked to me so kindly. Perhaps my mother has asked him to be kind to me." So he happily went with his stepfather.

They walked to a cemetery where there were many rotting bodies and the stepfather tied Sopaka to one of them, leaving him alone and crying.

As the night became darker and darker Sopaka's fear increased. He was alone in the cemetery and so frightened that his hair stood on end and drops of sweat rolled down his body. The noises of the jackals, tigers, leopards and other wild animals made him even more frightened. Then, when he was almost paralysed with fear, he saw a shining noble-looking person with a bright light coming towards him saying,

"Sopaka, don't cry. I am here to help you, so don't fear." At that moment Sopaka broke his bonds and stood before the Buddha in the Jetavana monastery. The Buddha bathed him, gave him food to eat, cloths to wear and consoled and comforted him.

Meanwhile, on returning home, the wicked stepfather was questioned by Sopaka's mother. "Where is my son?" she asked. "I don't know," he replied, "he came home before me." But the mother could not sleep the whole night for worrying about her son.

Early next day she went to see the Buddha for help. "Why are you crying, sister?" asked the Buddha.

"O Lord," replied the lady, "I have only one son and since last night he has been missing. My husband took Sopaka for a walk and the little boy never returned home."

"Don't worry, sister. Your son is safe. Here he is." And so saying the Buddha showed her Sopaka, who had become a monk. The mother was overjoyed to see her son again, and after listening to the Buddha's teachings she too became a follower.

Sunita, the Scavenger

In Savatthi there was a scavenger named Sunita. He was a road-sweeper and barely earned enough to feed himself. Sunita slept on the roadside, for he did not have a house to go to. He saw other people enjoying themselves but he could not mix with them because these people called him an outcast. Whenever a higher caste person went on the road Sunita had to run and hide so his shadow did not fall on them. If he was not quick enough he would be scolded and beaten. Poor Sunita lived a miserable life.

One day, as he was sweeping a dirty, dusty road, Sunita saw the Buddha with thousands of followers coming towards him. His heart was filled with joy and fear and finding no place to hide he just stood, joining his palms in respect. The Buddha stopped and spoke to poor Sunita in a sweet, gentle voice saying, "My dear friend, would you like to leave this work and follow me?"

Nobody had ever spoken to Sunita like this before. His heart was filled with joy and his eyes with tears. "O, most venerable Sir, I have always received orders but never a kind word. If you accept a dirty and miserable scavenger like me I will follow you."

So the Buddha ordained Sunita and took him along with the other monks. From that day forth no one knew what Sunita's caste was, and nobody treated him with disgust and cruelty. Everybody, even kings, ministers and commanders, respected him.

Kindness, sacrifice, gratitude, wisdom and tolerance of the Buddha-External Degree Program-Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka

Prince Siddhartha was very kind to people, animals and other living things. He was also a very brave horseman and won many prizes in the country. Although he did not have to suffer any hardships and difficulties, as he had everything, he always thought of the poor people and living things who were working hard to make him happy. He felt sorry for them and wanted to make them happy too.

One day he was walking in the woods with his cousin Devadatta, who had brought his bow and arrows with him. Suddenly, Devadatta saw a swan flying and shot at it. His arrow brought the swan down. Both the boys ran to get the bird. As Siddhartha could run faster than Devadatta, he reached the swan's injured body first and found, to his surprise, that it was still alive. He gently pulled out the arrow from the wing. He then got a little juice from cool leaves, put it on the wound to stop the bleeding and with his soft hand stroked the swan, which was very frightened. When Devadatta came to claim the swan, Prince Siddhartha refused to give it to him. Devadatta was very angry to see his cousin keeping the swan away from him. "Give me my bird! I shot it down," said Devadatta.

"No, I am not going to give it to you," said the Prince. "If you had killed it, it would have been yours. But now, since it is only wounded but still alive, it belongs to me."

Devadatta still did not agree. Then Siddhartha suggested, "Let us go to the court of the Sage and ask him who really owns the swan." Devadatta agreed, so off they went to the court of the Sage to tell him about their quarrel.

The Sage hearing both boys' version of the story, said, "A life certainly must belong to he who tries to save it, a life cannot belong to one who is only trying to destroy it. The wounded swan by right belongs to Siddhartha."

One day, the children’s nanny got very sick. She was in great pain. Both Vishaka and Bimsara were very concerned. As soon as they returned from school they went to see their nanny and helped her with whatever they could. It is a very good quality to extend help when needed, for a person who always helps others. The two children showed this quality of gratitude. Both Mother and Father were very happy about the good qualities of their children. That day after the evening worship, the mother praised her children.

“My dear children, we are very happy about you. Most parents are not blessed with kind-hearted children. Proud and lazy children can be a burden to their families. If someone does not help a person who has helped them, then that person will not develop the quality of gratitude.”

“Mother, today we helped nanny to wash. She is getting better now.

 “Yes my children, that is very good! This is the real offering to the Buddha. The Buddha discoursed “Yo gilanam upattheiya, so man upattheyya” that means; if someone cares for a sick person, he is the one who cares for Buddha.

 Children, the Buddha highly appreciated the kind act of nursing sick people. The Buddha liked to see everyone doing well. That is why the Buddha is regarded as the greatest person ever to be born in this world. King Dharmashoka who ruled India around two thousand three hundred years ago built hospitals not only for humans but also for animals.

One day, the Buddha visited the temples with bhikkhus. While observing each room of the bhikkhus’, the Buddha heard someone moaning in pain. He stopped and listened. Then walked to the door of the room where the sound was coming through, and opened it. A very strong smell of badly festered wounds came out of the room. The Buddha went inside the room. An old bhikkhu was lying on a bed. His body was covered with blisters and most of them had burst and pus was oozing out along with blood. The Buddha went to him and asked kindly “Dear bhikkhu, don’t you have anyone to care for you?”

 Then that bhikkhu started to cry and said “My dear lord Buddha… I made a big mistake. I never cared for my peer bhikkhus when they got sick. I even failed to ask how they were doing. And I never offered any medicine to those who were ill. I lived without caring for others. When I heard their cries in pain, I pretended not to hear. Because of that, no one cares for me now. ”

Then the Buddha called all the bhikkhus in that temple. “Dear bhikkhus, when one falls sick; it is a must that you take care of him. Especially, you who have severed all your family bonds, all your relatives, friends, and properties and have become bhikkhus, you should be very kind to each other. Never should you be selfish or work in isolation. If someone likes to care for me, he should care for the sick. That is what I like.”

 Thereafter, the Buddha called disciple Ananda; “Dear Ananda, please prepare some warm water. Take these robes and wash them well. And dry them well. Hand over the warm water to me”.

 Then Buddha gently sponged the body of that sick bhikkhu with warm water. Then He softly wiped the body. Owing to the pus and blood that oozed out from the wounds, the wearing robe of the sick bhikkhu was glued to his body. Once his body was cleaned, the bhikkhu felt so much comfort, and he felt very happy and his mind became calm.”

 “Mother, the name of that sick bhikkhu was Poothigattatissa, wasn’t it?

 “Oh! Do you know the story?” asked mother.

 “Yes, Mother… The little bhikkhu at the temple told this story to us on a full moon day.”

 “Very good!  You must remember what you learn like that. Then the Buddha discoursed on Dhamma to bhikkhu Pootigattatissa. The bhikkhu Pootigattatissa listened to Dhamma with total concentration. And he started contemplating deeply in order to understand the meaning of Dhamma. Finally, he realized Dhamma. Just after the Buddha left the temple, the bhikkhu Pootigattatissa, while contemplating Dhamma with a calm and happy mind, passed away.

My children what we must understand is when someone falls sick, not only his body but his mind too gets sick. Hence, he gets hurt quickly. And he feels sad even for little things. He feels alone and helpless. Therefore, we must always help the sick people to get better. We should never expect anything in return for what we do for them. Then we could cultivate a lot of merit in this world.

Once, the Buddha was in an assembly when a man walked in looking furious. He thought Buddha was doing something wrong. He was a restless businessman and he had found that his children were spending hours with Buddha when they could have engaged themselves in business at that time, making more and more money. He felt that spending four hours of their day seated next to someone whose eyes were always closed was incredulous. This was what had upset the businessman. 

So, with furiousness walked straight up to Buddha looked him the eye and spat. He was so angry, he could not find the words to express them that he merely spat at Buddha. Buddha simply smiled. He showed no anger, though the disciples around him were angry. They would have liked to react but could not because Buddha was there. So, everybody was holding their lips and fists tight. After the businessman spat at Buddha and realized his action was not drawing a reaction, simply walked away in a huff. 

Buddha did not react or say anything. He just smiled. And that was enough to shock the angry man. For the first time in his life, the man had met someone who would just smile when he spat on his face. That man could not sleep all night and his whole body underwent such a transformation. He was shivering, shaking. He felt as if the whole world had turned upside down. The next day he went and fell at Buddhas feet and said, please forgive me. I did not know what I did. To which Buddha replied, I cannot excuse you!

Everyone including the man and Buddhas disciples was flabbergasted. Buddha then explained the reason for his statement. He said why I should forgive you when you have done nothing wrong.
The businessman looked a little more surprised and told Buddha that it was he who had wronged him by spitting on him. Buddha simply said, Oh! That person is not there now. If I ever meet that person whom you spat on, I will tell him to excuse you. To this person who is here, you have done no wrong. That is real compassion.